Genesis 34 is a chapter most people want to skip. It's uncomfortable, it's dark, and it raises questions nobody really wants to sit with. But buried at the very end is a single verse that stood out — and it has nothing to do with justice. It has everything to do with what drives you. What's the difference between a passion that fades and a calling you can't put down? And have you picked up your sword yet?

• The story of Genesis 34 — why it's hard to read and why it matters
• Simeon and Levi's final response in verse 31 and what it reveals about commitment
• Why Jacob's reaction in verse 30 tells you everything about whether their actions were endorsed
• The honest difference between passions that fade and a calling you can't undo
• Chad's own list — bison ranching, forestry, racing mowers — and what happened when the fire cooled
• The moment he crossed his own point of no return with this podcast
• What it means to go back to the altar when the motivation is gone and it just feels like work
• The question you have to answer: Have you picked up your sword? And are you still swinging?

"Have you picked up your sword yet? And if you have — are you still swinging?"

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• Submit a prayer request or Tell us what stood out to YOU at https://leaving-the-kids-table.captivate.fm/

• Website: https://leaving-the-kids-table.captivate.fm/

A weekly podcast where we explore God's Word together, one chapter at a time. Every Monday, join me as I share what stood out to me in Scripture and challenge you to discover what stands out to you. It's about going deeper with God in authentic community—heel, toe, heel, toe, one step at a time.

You can have a new name and still slip back into old habits. Jacob walked into Genesis 33 as Israel—the man who wrestled God—and one chapter later old Jacob tendencies are showing up alongside the new man he's becoming. That tension is real. And it might be exactly where you are right now. This episode isn't about falling apart. It's about the question you can't avoid when you look up and realize old you crept back in: am I still choosing who God said I am?

• Why Jacob's careful approach to Esau shows a man doing the hard work of making things right
• The moment Jacob tells Esau one thing and does another—and why it's more complicated than it looks
• How God's direction to Canaan changes the way we read Jacob's departure
• The difference between Jacob's conditional "if/then" vow in Genesis 28 and his unconditional declaration at the altar in Genesis 33
• What El Elohe Israel really means—and why declaring direction matters more than declaring perfection
• The slow creep of old habits alongside a new season—and the question that cuts through it

"The name doesn't disappear just because old you shows up sometimes. Israel was still Israel even when Jacob tendencies crept back in."

• Subscribe so you don't miss an episode
• Share this with someone ready to go deeper
• Submit a prayer request or Tell us what stood out to YOU at https://leaving-the-kids-table.captivate.fm/

• Website: https://leaving-the-kids-table.captivate.fm/

A weekly podcast where we explore God's Word together, one chapter at a time. Every Monday, join me as I share what stood out to me in Scripture and challenge you to discover what stands out to you. It's about going deeper with God in authentic community—heel, toe, heel, toe, one step at a time.

Have you ever been in something so hard, so suffocating, that you just gave up? Jacob found himself alone in the dark, in the middle of his fear—and God showed up to wrestle. Not to destroy him. To mark him. What does it look like to hold on when everything in you wants to tap out? That's what Genesis 32 is about.

• Why Jacob was alone on the other side of the river—and why that moment mattered
• The wrestling match: what the text actually says about who was winning and what it cost Jacob
• The hip, the limp, and what it means that wrestling with God leaves a mark
• Israel: the name that carries the struggle AND the victory inside it
• The daily choice to not tap—even when you're on the ground and can't see the way through

"You might walk away from this marked. But you'll walk away different."

• Subscribe so you don't miss an episode
• Share this with someone ready to go deeper
• Submit a prayer request or Tell us what stood out to YOU at https://leaving-the-kids-table.captivate.fm/

• Website: https://leaving-the-kids-table.captivate.fm/

A weekly podcast where we explore God's Word together, one chapter at a time. Every Monday, join me as I share what stood out to me in Scripture and challenge you to discover what stands out to you. It's about going deeper with God in authentic community—heel, toe, heel, toe, one step at a time.